University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics

NCAA Second Round
Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015 – College Station, Texas
#7 Hawaii def. #15Texas A&M, 3-0
 
Hawaii post-match quotes
Head Coach Dave Shoji: 

Opening statement…
“We’ve gotten here in the past but haven’t been able to advance to a regional for some time, so for me it was a very important match. They have played so well this year that no matter what happened tonight we were going to be happy. Winning this match was huge for our program. We played great defense, our offense was good. We had talked about trying to peak at the right time and certainly tonight was a very good indicator of that.” 

On the effects of travelling on the team’s first two matches…
“I felt we were okay last night. We’d been here two-and-a-half days, so I didn’t think that was a factor. Obviously another day in this time zone didn’t hurt. Obviously we were very focused tonight and played up to our ability.”

On Texas A&M Middle Blocker Jazzmin Babers…
“I don’t think we shut down Babers. She had a really nice night, especially in game three. She’s a great player. I should’ve recruited her. Her dad and I are close friends as well as her mom who played for the Wahine, so I think they have mixed emotions about tonight’s game.”

On the team’s ability to make plays…
“We scrambled unbelievably tonight. We made plays that we might not normally make, especially converting the play for points. You don’t really practice that so you rely on your players to have instincts, and tonight it was beautiful to watch.”

On the team’s versatility…
“TCU’s coach called us ‘one-dimensional’ before we played them and I think that really bothered us. Certainly we rely on Nikki Taylor a lot, but we have other weapons. Tonight was a really good indication of our depth and strength throughout the lineup. We’d like to be more balanced.”

On the set selection…
“Obviously our setter did a nice job. She spread the sets, made excellent decisions, and location was good. She blocked a ball which she normally doesn’t do and she had a few digs as well.”
 
Junior opposite hitter Nikki Taylor:
On the mindset of the team before tonight’s game…
“I think last night we were just a little nervous because it was our first game coming out. Luckily we could finish through last night with our jitters, because I think the story would be a lot different had we been playing the way we did last night in this game. We knew we really needed to focus and play flawless, and I think we executed that pretty well.”

On making a statement in these first two rounds…
“I think it was definitely a statement for us. I know personally I wanted to come in here and show the nation what we have the ability to do. Whenever we come into these kinds of things we’re kind of labeled the underdog and I don’t think that’s correct, which we showed tonight. I was proud of the way we were able to fly so far away from home and were still be able to produce and show the nation what this team can do.”
 
Sophomore outside hitter Kalei Greeley
On her ability to play her best in these last two games…
“I’m just trying to do everything I can to help the team. Everybody came really focused. I’m really proud of how we handled these past two games and how we improved from last night.”